A spirit child refuses to die in a world that devours its children.
Who drives the story
An abiku, a spirit child named for Lazarus, who keeps refusing the spirit world's summons out of love for his parents. Kidnapped by thugs and spirits alike, he witnesses everything and chooses the hungry world every time.
A load-carrier who drinks, beats his family, then remakes himself as boxer Black Tyger, political speaker, and visionary faster. His hunger for a better life costs his body and nearly his family.
A hawker who sells whatever she can, including her own hair, to feed her men. She protects Azaro fiercely, even stopping Madame Koto from taking his blood.
The bar owner who wants Azaro's luck, then his blood, then political power. Richer and stranger by the chapter, accused of witchcraft, rumored pregnant with a spirit child.
A young artist whose camera catches spirits beside the living and atrocities beside daily life. Thugs destroy his camera for documenting what they did.
A Party of the Rich man who threatens eviction, then carries it out when Azaro's father speaks against corruption. He turns the compound itself into a political weapon.
How they are connected
She protects Azaro fiercely, even stopping Madame Koto from taking his blood.
She protects Azaro fiercely, even stopping Madame Koto from taking his blood.
The bar owner who wants Azaro's luck, then his blood, then political power.
A Party of the Rich man who threatens eviction, then carries it out when Azaro's father speaks against corruption.
A Party of the Rich man who threatens eviction, then carries it out when Azaro's father speaks against corruption.
Go deeper
Choosing the broken world · Democracy bought and burned · Hunger as the world's engine · The visible and the invisible
Themes explainedThe full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.
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